A review by fusrodah
The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski
4.0
Let me just admit I picked this up because I absolutely love the Witcher games, and I wanted to read books that inspired them. At the same time, I'm really not a fan of Andrzej Sapkowski owing to his underhanded approach to the games that arguably made his work truly famous, but it wouldn't influence my thoughts on this book. It was a sublime read!
The Plot revolves around Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher who's professions involves killing monsters and getting the bounty on their heads. In this world, there's a rift between the world of monsters and men, causing various of these supernatural beings to enter the human world. That's where Witchers come in, mutants who are akin to bounty hunters as they find contracts and slay monsters in return for money.
The book is split into the past and the present. The past features a set of individually standing stories, each a chronicle of Geralt's life this far as a Witcher. The present is continuous with Geralt nursing himself back to health after a particularly tedious contract. Both are very well done, the stories interesting and having a good amount of dry humour sometimes.
The Writing is great to read. Not oversimplified, but at the same time not too frivolous in its execution. The Last Wish was translated to english by Danusia Stok, and major props to her.
The real standout by far are the characters! Geralt I already loved. The process that converts a normal human to a Witcher gives them mutations that strip them of emotions, and this leaves Geralt full of dry humor. He's a badass monster hunter, but still has all the vulnerabilities of a human. Even aside from Geralt, all the side characters are very well done, each having distinct characters both good and bad.
My only gripe is not all the stories were consistently good, one or two not as compelling a read as the others. But all in all, The Last Wish was a great read and I can't wait to read the sequel.
The Plot revolves around Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher who's professions involves killing monsters and getting the bounty on their heads. In this world, there's a rift between the world of monsters and men, causing various of these supernatural beings to enter the human world. That's where Witchers come in, mutants who are akin to bounty hunters as they find contracts and slay monsters in return for money.
The book is split into the past and the present. The past features a set of individually standing stories, each a chronicle of Geralt's life this far as a Witcher. The present is continuous with Geralt nursing himself back to health after a particularly tedious contract. Both are very well done, the stories interesting and having a good amount of dry humour sometimes.
The Writing is great to read. Not oversimplified, but at the same time not too frivolous in its execution. The Last Wish was translated to english by Danusia Stok, and major props to her.
The real standout by far are the characters! Geralt I already loved. The process that converts a normal human to a Witcher gives them mutations that strip them of emotions, and this leaves Geralt full of dry humor. He's a badass monster hunter, but still has all the vulnerabilities of a human. Even aside from Geralt, all the side characters are very well done, each having distinct characters both good and bad.
My only gripe is not all the stories were consistently good, one or two not as compelling a read as the others. But all in all, The Last Wish was a great read and I can't wait to read the sequel.